/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/67468563/usa_today_10728822.0.jpg)
Despite having graduated Oregon State and waiting the start of her professional career in the WNBA after choosing to sit out the 2020 campaign, former Beavers guard Mikayla Pivec is still finding her name associated with accolades, as the NCAA named her as one of the thirty finalists for their Woman of the Year Award.
The award has been given annually since 1991 and it works to “recognize graduating female student-athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves in academics, athletics, service and leadership throughout their collegiate careers.”
Athletes who compete in women’s sports across the Division I, Division II and Division III level are all eligible for this award and Pivec is one of just two Division I basketball players to make the list, alongside Rice’s Erica Ogwumike.
On the court, Pivec was a stand-out across the board, leaving Corvallis as the program’s all-time leading rebounder, the pinnacle moment of a memorable four-year career for the team captain. The Washington-native finished her career ranked in the top ten in school history in points, rebounds and assists. Off the court, the star guard was named the Pac-12 Scholar Athlete of the Year for this past campaign, her second straight year as an Academic All-American, in addition to also participating in numerous community service projects.